RFI Musique: Face A/face B (A Side/B Side) is a bit of a schizophrenic title for an album. Does this mean to say there are two Axelle Reds?Axelle Red: Oh there are two, three, maybe even a dozen! Having said that, however, I do feel this is the first album where I've managed to make some sort of 'peace' between the contradictions in me. There are a lot of different Axelle Reds in a way – for example, I can be extremely realistic at times and then I've got this other side which is almost deliberately naïve. I think that's something that holds true for my music too. I've got a lot of different sides to me – I like music that really grooves but at the same time I'm attracted to music based on beautiful melodies. That's the basis of everything for me!

Musically speaking, your new album could have been called "Somewhere Between Marvin & Michael"…
Well, I take that as a compliment! (Laughs). But you'd have to have a white role model in there too somewhere. There'd have to be a Burt Bacharach, a Carole King or quite simply Abba! All I can say is a whole lot of different ingredients went into the making of this album and that's what made it such a pleasure.

The dancefloor influences on your new album may well disconcert a few fans though…
Yes, it's true, some fans systematically go for my slow numbers. But I think I set the tone on my first albumreally – right from the word go I did songs like Sensualitéor Le monde tourne mal where there were already strong groove and soul influences. Incidentally, I remember people saying to me back then "What ever made you go and do a soul album?!" In other words, "What the hell's this soul stuff got to do with me?!" (Laughs). The award I got this summer for having sold 1 million copies of A tâtons reassures me that I wasn't completely barking up the wrong tree, though. Having said that, however, half of the tracks on Face A/face B are down-tempo!

One of the interesting things on your new album is that you seem to be intent on raising social issues in your songs. Is this your way of stopping dancefloor dumbing-down? Axelle Red's "disco with a message"?!
Well, the first person to do that, you know, was Marvin Gaye. You can get up and dance to What’s goin' on? because it's got this fabulously sexy music and while you dance you're not necessarily thinking about the song's serious subject. It's true that up until now no-one's really done this sort of thing with disco. But I get the impression that maybe you can get your message across more easily this way – because people don't realise they're hearing one! (Laughs). Whatever the case, this is my 4th album and I think that makes it easier for me to tackle certain subjects this time round. I've got more competence and experience now.
But I've done serious songs in the past too, you know. When I was making my album A tâtons I actually sat down and wrote a song called Rien que d’y penserwhich was about a little kid caught up in a war. In that song I expressed how I felt about that child and the lyrics ended up being a bit heavy, so I changed the lyrics before I included it on the album. This time round with Pas maintenant I felt ready to tackle the issue properly and the big difference this time round was I wrote the song from the child's perspective rather than my own. That felt much more right to me. There are other serious themes too on songs likeVenez vers moiand Voilà tout ce qu’on peut fairethat I know I wouldn't have been capable of writing before. You shouldn't forget French isn't my first language after all!

Do you think your work as a special ambassador for UNICEF has got something to do with this 'serious' approach to songwriting?
Yes, but it's been there in my work since '97. This desire to bring up serious issues was always there, in fact, the only problem was I didn't quite know how to go about it in my songwriting. There were a few songs like Ma prièrewhich tried to take a look at what was going on in the world.
But, yes, I think my work for UNICEF has weighed in the balance somewhere. Certain things I've seen on my trips with UNICEF will always haunt me. I remember this one little girl in Laos - the country which has been the most devastated by landmines – who came up to me and asked "Will you write a song for us?" And all I could say was, "Well, I'm not promising anything, but I'll try!" And I've done it now – that song is Pas maintenant.

There's a bit of an 80s feel to your new album. You might even be accused of jumping on the current "80s revival" bandwagon…
Oh come on, people have been using 80s influences for a while now – maybe it's even been as long as four or five years! To be honest, what really triggered the whole thing off for me was listening to a disco album on holiday. That's what reminded me I was a "disco frog" (laughs), that I'd always had a soft spot for Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang!… Before recording this album I did actually stop and ask myself whether people would think I was trying to fit in with a certain trend. But at the end of the day, I was like "Well, why shouldn't I do something I like?!" After all, seeing as all through my teenage years everyone called me a "disco frog" I think I was in a pretty good position to make this sort of album (Laughs).
No, seriously, I decided I wanted to do something I really enjoyed this time round. And I think this album is actually the one that is most representative of me and who I am. It shows all my different facets – even my pop side which was a lot more evident on my very first album, Sans plus attendre.

As a major soul fan, what do you think of the vogue for "Nu soul." Is that something you'd ever be tempted to experiment with yourself?
Who knows? Maybe some time in the future. I certainly follow what's going on on the "nu soul" scene and I'm not averse to what singers like Angie Stone and Alicia Keys are doing. I think the "nu soul" thing's really interesting, in fact. But personally I've got a different take on things. Even though my musical references have always been soul and funk I tend to mix these styles, which are basically of American origin, with what's coming out of Europe, particularly the UK. - with groups like Massive Attack and Portishead or the amazing fusion stuff done by artists like Jamiroquai and Björk. Right now that's what I find most inspiring, all these musical trends coming out of Europe.

Maybe that's why you've always been seen as a mainstream Francophone singer rather than a soul sister…
I don't know. All I can say is I've never gone out of my way to get that kind of image. I sing my songs my own way and that's that! I did do a soul concert once though, because I wanted my fans to know what real soul is – not just my take on it!
But I have to say if I really wanted to have a soul image, I could make life a lot easier for myself by just dishing up a load of old clichés. But that's not what I'm interested in. I'm interested in doing my music my way and if I get any sort of label along the way I want it to be the Axelle Red label! That's all I've been trying to do right from my first album.

This kind of natural sincerity doesn't make you very "rock’n’roll", does it? I mean, you hold up the idea of couples and fidelity on a song like Toujours, praise the joys of motherhood, and say no to drugs on a song like Blanche neige…
I think Blanche neige is pretty rock’n’roll! (Laughs) And I'm not actually saying no to drugs on that song – because as far as I'm concerned drugs are the same as alcohol, the only difference is that one's legal and the other's not! Honestly, I think that as long as you're not harming yourself or other people, I've got absolutely nothing against it! But that's not the question really, is it? I think being "rock’n’roll" is all about doing what you want to do, being true to yourself and not making compromises. You know, sometimes I think I'm a lot more "rock’n’roll" than other artists who are labelled that way in fact. But then on the other hand, I couldn't give a damn whether I'm seen as "rock’n’roll" or not! (Laughs)

But maybe that's precisely what being "rock’n’roll" is!
All I can say is, I do my music and I try to do what I can so that other people enjoy and appreciate it. One of the most rewarding things, you know, is when I try and groove things up a bit and I see people dancing to my songs! And it's the same thing for me as far as the lyrics are concerned. That's all that matters to me at the end of the day!